Monsoon forests are quite rare. We toured one with Sierra Silverstone and Nono as our guides and learned about the species who inhabit them and how they adapt. The different layers of trees and foliage were examined. There is an invasive species (Lantana camara) that is threatening the monsoon forest in this area. Burning or picking it doesn’t work–it comes back stronger. Experiments are being conducted to try to eliminate it. One of these experiments conducted by the Biosphere Foundation is the planting of emergent trees — the white acacia– the tallest tree in the monsoon forest. This particular invasive species (Lantana camara) cannot survive in the shade so the hope is that this emergent tree will “shade it out.”

Students did service at the nursery that is growing these emergent trees from seedlings. We transplanted the trees and learned methods of gardening to apply to our environment back at school.